Celtic vs Slovan Bratislava facts

Celtic's third successive appearance in the UEFA Champions League proper pits them against Slovan Bratislava, who are making their competition debut.

This is only the second time the Scottish side have featured for three consecutive campaigns, and their 13th appearance overall; they are looking to reach the round of 16 for the first time since 2012/13.

Slovan have come through all four qualifying rounds to reach the new league phase, and are the first club from Slovakia to feature in 14 seasons – and just the fourth overall.

Previous meetings

1963/64 European Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals
Celtic 1-0 Slovan Bratislava
Slovan Bratislava 0-1 Celtic
The only meeting between the clubs came as the Hoops took on Slovan in their first UEFA competition campaign. A Bobby Murdoch penalty 19 minutes from time was enough to settle the first leg in Glasgow on 26 February 1964.

The teams met again in Bratislava on 4 March and again Celtic scored the only goal in the closing stages, John Hughes pouncing in the 85th minute. Jock Stein's side went on to lose 3-4 on aggregate to MTK Budapest in the semi-finals.

Form guide

Celtic

Record vs Slovakian clubs: W4 D1 L1 F7 A5
Home record vs Slovakian clubs: W3 D0 L0

Aside from their 1964 games against Slovan, Celtic have faced Slovakian opponents only four times, beating Košice in the 1996/97 UEFA Cup qualifying round (0-0 a, 1-0 h). They then lost a famous tie to Petržalka, then known as Artmedia Bratislava, in the 2005/06 Champions League second qualifying round, going down 5-0 in Bratislava but only just falling short of an astonishing comeback with a 4-0 second-leg victory in Glasgow.

The Bhoys have therefore won all three home games against Slovakian visitors without conceding.

Celtic are in the Champions League proper for the 13th time, two more than local rivals Rangers, and the third season in a row.

The Hoops were bottom of their section for the second season in a row in 2023/24, although they ended on a high with a 2-1 home win against Feyenoord – their first Champions League victory at Celtic Park since 2013. They finished behind Atlético de Madrid, Lazio and Feyenoord in Group E.

The defeat of Feyenoord ended Celtic's run of 12 home Champions League group games without a win, since they beat Ajax 2-1 on Matchday 4 in 2013/14; their record between those two successes was D3 L9.

Home and away, Celtic have won three of their last 32 games in the Champions League proper (D6 L23).

Celtic have finished bottom of their section in four of their last five Champions League campaigns.

The first British club to win the European Cup in 1967, and runners-up to Feyenoord three years later, Celtic have reached the Champions League knockout stages three times, all those campaigns ending in the round of 16, most recently in 2012/13 against Juventus (0-3 h, 0-2 a).

Celtic claimed their 54th Scottish League title, and a 12th in 13 seasons, in 2023/24, Brendan Rodgers' side finishing on 93 points, eight above runners-up Rangers. The Hoops also won the Scottish Cup for a record 42nd time.

Slovan 

Record vs Scottish clubs: W1 D1 L2 F2 A3
Away record vs Scottish clubs: W0 D1 L1

This is Slovan's first game against a Scottish team since April 1969, when they beat Dunfermline 2-1 on aggregate in the European Cup Winners' Cup semi-finals (1-1 a, 1-0 h) prior to a 3-2 final defeat of Barcelona.

This is the first time Slovan have featured in the Champions League proper. Indeed, only three Slovakian clubs appeared in the group stage – Košice (1997/98), Petržalka (2005/06) and Žilina (2010/11).

Although Slovan are in the competition proper for the first time, 2024/25 marked their 12th appearance in Champions League qualifying – and a sixth in succession.

Slovan have come through four qualifying rounds to reach the league phase, beating Struga of North Macedonia in the first (4-2 h, 2-1 a), Slovenian side Celje in the second (1-1 a, 5-0 h) and APOEL of Cyprus in the third (2-0 h, 0-0 a).

That set up a play-off against Midtjylland, and after a 1-1 first-leg draw in Denmark, Slovan triumphed 3-2 in Bratislava thanks to goals in the final ten minutes from Marko Tolić (82) – his second of the game – and Tigran Barseghyan (86).

Slovan are one of five clubs to be making their Champions League debuts in 2024/25, along with Aston Villa, Brest, Bologna and Girona.

In 2023/24, the Bratislava side came through two Champions League rounds before losing to Maccabi Haifa in the third qualifying round (2-5 aggregate) to move into the Europa League qualifying play-offs, where they lost 7-4 on aggregate against Aris Limassol. That sent them into the Europa Conference League group stage, where they finished second in their section behind LOSC Lille, eventually losing to Sturm Graz in the knockout round play-offs (1-4 a, 0-1 h).

Slovan lost four of their eight away European matches in 2023/24, winning the others; they were unbeaten in their four away games in qualifying this season (W1 D3).

The Sky Blues claimed their 30th league title overall in 2023/24, finishing 15 points clear in the Slovakian top flight.

Links and trivia

Vladimír Weiss scored five goals in 23 league appearances for Celtic's Glasgow rivals Rangers during a 2010/11 loan. He won two of his four games against Celtic, coming on as an extra-time substitute in a 2-1 Rangers victory in the Scottish League Cup final on 20 March 2011.

Latest news

Celtic

The Hoops have won all five Scottish Premiership games this season, scoring 14 goals without conceding.

On Saturday, second-half strikes from Arne Engels, a penalty, and Luke McCowan earned a 2-0 win at home to Hearts. It was both players' first goals for Celtic.

The Glasgow club have won their last 12 games in all competitions, stretching back to a 3-3 draw against Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup semi-final on 20 April – a tie they won 6-5 on penalties.

Celtic have conceded only one goal in their six games in 2024/25 – scoring 17 – and have kept seven clean sheets in nine matches stretching back to last season.

Callum McGregor had found the net in Celtic's previous three league games.

James Forrest made his 500th Celtic appearance in a 3-0 derby win at home to Rangers on 1 September; he is just the 13th player to achieve that mark.

Celtic were 3-1 winners at home to Hibernian in the Scottish League Cup second round on 18 August. They will be at home to Falkirk in the quarter-finals on 22 September.

Summer signing Engels made his Belgium debut as a late substitute in a 3-1 UEFA Nations League win at home to Israel on 6 September.

The previous day, substitute Daizen Maeda had been on target as Japan won 7-0 at home to China PR in 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying.

Paulo Bernardo was on target as Portugal won 2-0 in Croatia in 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying on 10 September.

Alistair Johnston limped off midway through the first half of Canada's 2-1 friendly win against the United States on 7 September with a hamstring injury but played 90 minutes on Saturday.

Slovan

Slovan have won five of their six league games in 2024/25, coming from behind to earn a 2-1 victory at DAC 1904 on Saturday thanks to a second-half double from Tigran Barseghyan.

Barseghyan has six goals in six league appearances this season.

The Slovakian champions had lost their previous league fixture, 0-5 at home to Žilina on 1 September.

That ended Slovan's unbeaten start to the season in all competitions (W9 D3) and was their heaviest defeat since another 5-0 loss, at Young Boys on Matchday 1 of the 2014/15 UEFA Europa League.

Slovan bounced back with a 5-0 win at Nitra in the Slovakian Cup second round on 10 September.

The Bratislava club will be away to Beluša in the third round on 25 September.

Barseghyan is Slovan's top scorer in all competitions in 2024/25 on eight goals, two more than David Strelec.

Strelec was also on target in Slovakia's 2-0 UEFA Nations League win at home to Azerbaijan on 8 September.

Lukáš Pauschek has not played since 27 July due to a shoulder injury.